Mark Allen recognises Andy Scoulding as the unheralded star of Rangers going unbeaten through a Premiership title win one year and becoming European finalists the next.
The former Ibrox director of football believes it’s bad news for his former club that Tottenham noticed it too.
Scoulding, appointed by Allen as head of scouting at Gers five years ago, is set for a new job at Spurs under sporting director Fabio Paratici.
The bulletin arrived as no great shock to Allen who watched Scoulding’s recruitment expertise play a massive part in the Rangers rebuild behind the scenes.
During Scoulding’s spell at the helm of the scouting department gems such as Joe Aribo, Glen Kamara and Calvin Bassey were signed for snips.
Now, after influential roles in two unforgettable campaigns, those heroes are worth millions to the club.
Allen reckons Scoulding is destined for the director of football role at a major outfit before too long.
He wanted the former English FA analyst to replace him in that very job at Ibrox before Ross Wilson was coaxed from Southampton to fill the void.
And Allen, who left Rangers in 2019, said: “If I was still at Ibrox, I wouldn’t be wanting to lose Andy – no chance.
“He’s the guy who deserves a lot of credit for what’s happened at Rangers but has never been recognised for it.
“Spurs coming for him doesn’t surprise me at all.
“As well as going out and picking players out and writing reports, he’s a huge talent in strategising and is a great lateral thinker.
“He’s going to be a bit of a loss. Andy has the skills to go on and be very successful.
“Without a doubt, he’s a future director of football somewhere at a big club.”
Scoulding excelled at Fulham in a video analysis post before working on Roy Hodgson’s staff for Liverpool and the FA.
He then helped former England ace Steven Gerrard in his first managerial role.
Scoulding’s talent-spotting assisted in securing a precious title for Rangers.
A few more shrewd additions starred in the improbable European run and Scottish Cup success for Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Allen said: “Andy would do the ‘first pass’, if you like. He’d look at players, bring them to the table and we’d discuss them.
“I’d sit with Stevie, his coaching staff and Andy, evaluate that talent and come up with a selection criterion. Andy might go off and find out a bit more about them, or be the main man to follow up a lead that, say, I had received.
“Andy’s job was to effectively identify and recommend talent in the truest sense of the word.
“We built a very successful Rangers off nothing, really. Look at the Europa League team!
“Joe Aribo, free. Kamara, £50,000. Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield, both free.
“Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson, Steven Davis, Ryan Kent. Andy had a role in recruiting all of them.
“He may well have been heavily involved in going for John Lundstram and Bassey too but that came after my time.”
While Gers were down the divisions and in the grip of permanent boardroom chaos, recruitment was left to rot.
But with Scoulding sorting a revamped scouting squad, featuring club legend John Brown, the tide has turned.
Allen said: “I wanted someone with knowledge of what was in the market place and also of the direction the industry was going.
“Andy had all of those analytical skills.
“From a personal point of view, it was clear from references that he’s very diligent, thorough and a tremendously hard worker.
“He puts the miles and work in to get the right results.
“He’s a bright individual, far from one-dimensional. He was a great aid to me for what we were trying to build at Rangers in the early days. And he was definitely that guy I tried to nurture and develop in the background as my successor.”
